Hochheim

Summary: Although the Jewish community of Hochheim was always small and poor, it refused, in 1840, to be incorporated into the congregation of nearby Floersheim. Most local Jews were shop owners, livestock traders or butchers. In 1821, there were five Jewish families (18 children) in Hochheim; religious services were held in a dark, dilapidated hall. In 1852, the congregation hired a Jewish teacher from Floersheim. A synagogue with 38 seats for men and 12 for women was set up on the second floor of a 150-year-old house on Rathausstrasse in 1870. Burials were conducted in Floersheim until 1907, when new burial grounds were consecrated in Hochheim (first used in 1912). Sigmund Aschrott, a prominent Jewish-German businessman, was born in Hochheim and spent his childhood there. He not only contributed much to the revival of the linen industry, but also bought land, built splendid parks in Kassel, and invested in many industries. Following Pogrom Night, November 1938, the mayor of Hochheim wrote a report stating that on November 10, at around a quarter past six in the evening, the synagogue had been wrecked, along with two homes and one Jewish-owned business. The cemetery was also destroyed. Most Jews left Hochheim during the years 1934 to 1938; the others had left by 1939. Members of the Allied forces made former Nazis work to restore Hochheim’s Jewish cemetery in 1945. In 1985, a memorial plaque was affixed the former synagogue building.

Author / Sources: Swetlana Frank
Sources: AJ, DJGH, EJL, FJG, LJG, SIA, SIH